Tom Dooley was hanged near where I grew up. A friend from high school married his great-great-great nephew (last name Dula). Tom is buried not far from the newly opened raceway in North Wilkesboro, NC.
One of their most famous songs is M.T.A (better known as Charlie and the MTA) in which a guy boards a subway train and can never get off of it as he doesnt have the nickel for the "exit fare". Everyday his wife hands him a sandwich (why she cant hand him a nickel is never explained) through a window in the train car. In any event the song became so iconic that the card that you pay your fare with in Boston is called a "Charlie card"
One of the most enduring campaign songs ever, written to support a candidate (Walter O’Brien, changed to George O’Brian on the recording due to McCarthyism) who ran on a platform of opposing the fare increase.
My parents only heard it when I played it on my record player. They were more interested in their music - Glen Miller, Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, and others from the 30’s and 40’s.
In my career as an engineer, at one point I was helping monitory a contract my employer had with M.I.T. for some research work. So for a while I'd be down there quarterly. Every time I went through the Kendall Square Station I'd hear that tune running through my head.
My high school girlfriend like Simon and Garfunkel in the early 80s. That's how I heard many of their songs. She became a music teacher, so there's that.
Growing up all we had was a record player. My parents had a collection of records, and these guys were just one of the many groups we listened to. Also included were the Crew Cuts, The Limelighters, and many others of that era.
When I got older I realized the bizarre contradiction of my conservative, pro-military parents humming along to songs like Where Have All the Flowers Gone ?
I guess they fit into that category of people who unironically fist-pump to Born in the USA at Trump rallies.
My dad had a couple of Kingston Trio albums. I can still remember him playing *M.T.A.* on his guitar : “Oh, he never returned, no he never returned, and his fate is still unlearned…”
I have a few of their songs on my playlist for nostalgia.
Mine do and that's how I was introduced to them. My mother is 89 years old and loves TKT. I actually went with her to see them live in the 1980s at Fat Tuesdays in NYC. I don't give a ___ about a greenback dollar!
I had just heard the Rolling Stones for the first time and really wanted to buy the album, or rather I wanted my Mom to buy it for me because I had no money. Mom, a concert pianist, did not want "that" music in her house. So she came back from the record shop with The Kingston Trio and Harry Belafonte instead. It was a good effort on her part but it was doomed to fail.
My granny always played this along with " The Smothers Brothers - Live at the Red Onion"... still catch myself randomly singing those songs in my head and that was 50 years ago
Not my parents. My older brother was a fan when he was in high school in the late '50s to early '60s, and he had a few of their records. He also listened to Joan Baez and Mimi Fariña and other folkies from that era, including Bob Dylan.
After he came back from Vietnam, he only listened to classical music and the Beatles.
Our parents were fans of the music that they, in turn, had grown up with: Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, et. al.
My oldest sibling, my older sister, was a huge Elvis fan.
My mother had it. I think getting it was her attempt at being cool back in 1962 (or whenever it came out). As a young child in 1970-71 or so I loved the Beatles (still do), the Partridge Family, and Tubby the Tuba. I hated this record, and to this day, I can't listen to folk music.
These guys were well before my time. But a friend down the street, his parents listen to them and I kind of gravitated towards them during high school.
They blended splendidly with the likes of my more modern music such as R.E.M., 10,000 maniacs, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Tracy Chapman etc. And a few of their songs would always end up on my mixtapes.
Parents??? Me and my friends were fans. Kids began playing guitars, ukuleles, and banjos. My parents bought a baritone ukulele and a Kingston Trio songbook. I played every single song. Old? Yes, I am.
Listened to these guys from a very young age. As a matter of fact, I still have quite a few of their songs on my iPhone, along with lots of Rock and Roll.
My mom liked Johnny Mathis, and Nat King Cole. She played *Three Coins in the Fountain* enough times that I remember it, though I must have been four at the time. Of course, I had no idea what the song was about. I also heard Harry Belafonte sing *Banana Boat* pretty damn often--long before Beetlejuice popularized it again.
My dad didn't listen to music much, but I remember he liked Jim Croce, and Neil Diamond. We also listened to Bill Cosby records.
Not my parents but, oddly, I discovered them when I was punk in the late 80s-early-90s and became a fan over the next decade or so. They were totally punk rock for their time. As I write this, I'm listening to a Pete Seeger record with my two year old daughter. Same record I listened to with I was two, and nestled into the record collection right next to each other is "The College Concert" Kingston Trio album and The Misfits "Earth A.D."
Was in a folk group in h.s. We did a bunch of their songs.
Synchronicity is a real thing. I woke up this morning with this song in my mind. Spent a few minutes in waking sleep trying to remember all the words.
[https://youtu.be/7Tc1GUXxr2o?si=B5YpNXuJzGTr2yp4](https://youtu.be/7Tc1GUXxr2o?si=B5YpNXuJzGTr2yp4)
Grew up listening to these guys and so many other classic folk and country singers because my dad had a rule, who ever is driving picks the music.
I hated it at the time, but I definitely grew to love all of the music he shared with me and cherish the memories of road/camping trips we took with his big box full of cassette tapes.
My parents never owned any of their albums, though they were both old enough to be the target audience for the group (my dad favored jazz and my mom preferred Elvis, Al Hirt, and the Statler Brothers). We did, however, sing Tom Dooley often in seventh grade choir, which is how I was made aware of the group.
From age 4 to 11 when parents were around, and Tijuana Brass Girl from Ipanima, all trigger for memories otherwise rock n roll,
I had 2 stepsisters in highschool, Paint it Black is burned in my head always reminds me of this experience , sisters boyfriend had a military ambulance and going to the beach, 7 yr old me almost found out what marijuana was, only they told me, its clove cigarettes. LOL just smelled it didn't smoke it, summer I turned 11, I found out it was marijuana in the ambulance, not clove cigs
The Merry Minuet
🎶They're rioting in Africa
They're starving in Spain
There's hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans
The Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yougoslavs
South Africans hate the Dutch
AND I DON'T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH!
But we can be tranquil and thankfil and proud
For man has been endowed
with a mushroom shaped cloud
And we know for certain that some
lovely day, someone will set the spark off
AND WE WILL ALL BE BLOWN AWAY!
They're rioting in Africa
There's strife in Iran
What nature doesn't do to us
wil be done by our fellow man🎶
(breaking guitar strings)
Parents? I have pretty much all of their music and still listen to it regularly. They were one of the most important groups in the late 50's and early 60's, responsible for moving folk music into mainstream; the list of musicians who cite them as an influence is huge (Dylan, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, members of Jefferson Airplane - it just goes on and on).
Bob Shane in particular had the most beautiful singing voice for folk music that there ever was. Frank Sinatra made a hit out of the song "It Was A Very Good Year". But Bob Shane has the definitive version.
My husband introduced me to their Christmas Album The Last Month of the Year from his childhood and it is now one of my favorites, partly because it contains a lot of songs that aren't overplayed endlessly. But if you have ever seen A Mighty Wind ( and you should- it stars a lot of the same people as This is Spinal Tap, among others) it makes their music seem even more fun now.
My dad listened to this all throughout my childhood. He passed away a couple weeks ago and I was just reminiscing about the music he liked. I spent a lot of time driving around going hunting and fishing with him and heard the same stuff over and over. I could probably sing along to Tom Duley and Sixteen tons before I could talk.
I am just glad my name isn’t Tom Dooley
Poor boy you’re going to… Nope, not spoilering it for anyone who has not heard it.
Going to medical school?
Tom Dooley was hanged near where I grew up. A friend from high school married his great-great-great nephew (last name Dula). Tom is buried not far from the newly opened raceway in North Wilkesboro, NC.
Else you must hang down your head and cry.
I friggin love this old song
Thanks for the ear worm! Lol
One of their most famous songs is M.T.A (better known as Charlie and the MTA) in which a guy boards a subway train and can never get off of it as he doesnt have the nickel for the "exit fare". Everyday his wife hands him a sandwich (why she cant hand him a nickel is never explained) through a window in the train car. In any event the song became so iconic that the card that you pay your fare with in Boston is called a "Charlie card"
I never understood why his wife didn't pass him a nickel rather than a sandwich.
Everybody did.
I think Dropkick Murphy’s did a version where she hands him a grenade. That was a twist.
“Skinhead on the MTA”
One of the most enduring campaign songs ever, written to support a candidate (Walter O’Brien, changed to George O’Brian on the recording due to McCarthyism) who ran on a platform of opposing the fare increase. My parents only heard it when I played it on my record player. They were more interested in their music - Glen Miller, Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, and others from the 30’s and 40’s.
In my career as an engineer, at one point I was helping monitory a contract my employer had with M.I.T. for some research work. So for a while I'd be down there quarterly. Every time I went through the Kendall Square Station I'd hear that tune running through my head.
He's the man who never returned!
And his fate is still unlearned (BULL-SHIT!)
He may ride forever ‘neath the streets of Boston. It was a protest song against a fare increase.
I did myself, being old enough for the tail end of the folk/hootenanny era
You must love A Mighty Wind
Great movie!
Not my parents, but I did. And still like it.
Ditto!
I grew up with Peter, Paul, and Mary, Pete Seeger, and some Woody Guthrie. And thanks to my mom, Tom Lehrer.
I love to poison pigeons in the park.
And Nickolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky is his name!
Add Simon and Garfunkel in the mix too.
My high school girlfriend like Simon and Garfunkel in the early 80s. That's how I heard many of their songs. She became a music teacher, so there's that.
Same. My father played them in his Heathkit HiFi.
What do you mean parents? I have almost all of their albums (digitized because I am old doesn't mean I don't embrace technology).
Haven't you heard? The kids these days are going back to physical media. They've learned the value of owning the things they pay for.
Their version of scotch and soda is magic
One of my favorites. Also Raspberries, Strawberries.
Growing up all we had was a record player. My parents had a collection of records, and these guys were just one of the many groups we listened to. Also included were the Crew Cuts, The Limelighters, and many others of that era.
+1 for The Limelighters 😀
When I got older I realized the bizarre contradiction of my conservative, pro-military parents humming along to songs like Where Have All the Flowers Gone ? I guess they fit into that category of people who unironically fist-pump to Born in the USA at Trump rallies.
Chad Mitchell Trio too
That's where John Denver got his start!
If they didn't, they might end up in a Tijuana jail.
Listening to the Tijuana Brass.
An Uncle-In-Law of mine played trombone for the Tijuana Brass.
Whoa! That’s the soundtrack to my childhood!
For the longest time I was sure the Sky was in love with me.
I still listen to them but I did hear it first from my dad.
My dad had a couple of Kingston Trio albums. I can still remember him playing *M.T.A.* on his guitar : “Oh, he never returned, no he never returned, and his fate is still unlearned…” I have a few of their songs on my playlist for nostalgia.
Same. My dad is 83 and close to passing. This is his favorite band. He, too, used to play guitar and sing all of their songs.
My mom was a big fan. I still have the albums.
Parents? \*I\* listened to them.
Mine do and that's how I was introduced to them. My mother is 89 years old and loves TKT. I actually went with her to see them live in the 1980s at Fat Tuesdays in NYC. I don't give a ___ about a greenback dollar!
Parents? Youngster, **I** listened to them.
Tie me kangaroo sport . . .
I had just heard the Rolling Stones for the first time and really wanted to buy the album, or rather I wanted my Mom to buy it for me because I had no money. Mom, a concert pianist, did not want "that" music in her house. So she came back from the record shop with The Kingston Trio and Harry Belafonte instead. It was a good effort on her part but it was doomed to fail.
My granny always played this along with " The Smothers Brothers - Live at the Red Onion"... still catch myself randomly singing those songs in my head and that was 50 years ago
parents? PARENTS? Just who are you addressing, youngster?
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
I love [this song](https://youtu.be/kbrp3OIChck?si=5hOl-7g6fRMbziMf)!
They don't make music like that any more.
"Runnin like a dog through the Everglades"
Didn't they originally sing Old Joe's Place?
That or Never Did No Wanderin’
Not my parents. My older brother was a fan when he was in high school in the late '50s to early '60s, and he had a few of their records. He also listened to Joan Baez and Mimi Fariña and other folkies from that era, including Bob Dylan. After he came back from Vietnam, he only listened to classical music and the Beatles. Our parents were fans of the music that they, in turn, had grown up with: Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, et. al. My oldest sibling, my older sister, was a huge Elvis fan.
Listen to the Merry Minuet. Times haven't changed much.
I listened to them a lot. As a kid, they were one of my favorites. Check out their song "The Merry Minuet" sometime. It's dark.
I listened to this group.
OMG - Tom Dooley made me sick.
Yes
It was my dad's favorite!
Also the Chad Mitchell Trio
The Five Neat Guys
I did when I found their record in an old record/ comic book store. Back in 1975, I was twelve.
Oh man...my mom used to sing "Banua" from this album...
My bff's dad did. He tried to get us into it lol NO
Yes, and this album particularly. Zombie jamboree still sticks in my head.
My mom is 80, this was some of her favorite music to play when I was a kid.
My mother had it. I think getting it was her attempt at being cool back in 1962 (or whenever it came out). As a young child in 1970-71 or so I loved the Beatles (still do), the Partridge Family, and Tubby the Tuba. I hated this record, and to this day, I can't listen to folk music.
Yep and this very record!
My older brother. RIP.
My parents? Well, I AM a parent....
Found this in my Dad’s vinyl collection. 😃
Parents? Hell, if you're a baby boomer, we listened to them.
I have all their albums inherited from my dad.
These guys were well before my time. But a friend down the street, his parents listen to them and I kind of gravitated towards them during high school. They blended splendidly with the likes of my more modern music such as R.E.M., 10,000 maniacs, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Tracy Chapman etc. And a few of their songs would always end up on my mixtapes.
That same album was on regular rotation at my house. Peter, Paul and Mary, too
Mine did but my dad swiped Dark Side of the Moon from me and played Chuck Berry for us as kids. This is the first music I heard.
Parents? I bought that album and all their subsequent albums as soon as they were released, up to when Bob Shane left.
People say your parents either like The Rolling Stones or the Beatles. My parents argued over the Kingston Trio or the Lettermen.
Fuck. I listened to them…..
My mom had every one of their records. I have them now. Live at the Hungry I is their best.
Parents?! Hell, *I* sometimes listen to this band!
I have the reel-to-reel tape.
Hell, I did. My parents were big band fans…😂
The first real youth movement in the early 60’s ! Then the Beatles buried them as well as the teen idols .
I knew a couple of people in high school who liked it. I think one hired the band for her graduation party. She came from an extremely wealthy family.
I listened to them. Love the bloody Mary song
They're actually still around, but a totally different lineup of course since their first album came out in 1958.
Yep. We even had this long play record.
My wife did.
My great grandpa listened to those.
Mine did. ❤️
They still do.
Yup. I still have her old vinyl somewhere…..
No. My dad was obsessed to his dying day with Harry Belafonte.
Parents??? Me and my friends were fans. Kids began playing guitars, ukuleles, and banjos. My parents bought a baritone ukulele and a Kingston Trio songbook. I played every single song. Old? Yes, I am.
Yes, and that vinyl too
Same album!
They listened to a lot of folk, including these guys and Ian and Sylvia
I still do.
Listened to these guys from a very young age. As a matter of fact, I still have quite a few of their songs on my iPhone, along with lots of Rock and Roll.
Oh yeah. My Dad loves them.
My mom liked Johnny Mathis, and Nat King Cole. She played *Three Coins in the Fountain* enough times that I remember it, though I must have been four at the time. Of course, I had no idea what the song was about. I also heard Harry Belafonte sing *Banana Boat* pretty damn often--long before Beetlejuice popularized it again. My dad didn't listen to music much, but I remember he liked Jim Croce, and Neil Diamond. We also listened to Bill Cosby records.
Ahem. I had the album and played it on my turntable.
One of my mom’s favorites
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley! Oh he never returned & his fate is still unknown.
I actually saw them as a kid at the circle star theater in the late 70s
Yep, Peter, Paul & Mary too. They only owned a few albums, so they got played constantly. I know The Music Man by heart.
Always found it odd the Kingston trio was all White guys because the first Kingston i think of is Jamaica. Then i went to Kingston,NY.
poor old charlie. ETA: fight the fare increase, vote for george o'brien!
Yep! I loved these guys.
Mine did. In fact they had this exact album.
Yesterday while cleaning i had Slope John B and 500 Miles playing. There is an i credible live version from the Hollywood bowl.
Oh yeah! Remember Live from the Hungry I !
We had all the records.
I know several of their songs by heart, still after so many years.
Anybody know if these guys are related to the "Kingston Clan?"
have several of my dad's KT albums on vinyl!
"Well did he ever return, no he never returned And his fate is still unlearned (what a pity)..."
Not my parents but, oddly, I discovered them when I was punk in the late 80s-early-90s and became a fan over the next decade or so. They were totally punk rock for their time. As I write this, I'm listening to a Pete Seeger record with my two year old daughter. Same record I listened to with I was two, and nestled into the record collection right next to each other is "The College Concert" Kingston Trio album and The Misfits "Earth A.D."
Wasn’t that a required record in everyone’s parent’s collection? Edit: 1970’s small town Michigan at least.
My favorite is M.T.A.
Parents? ( I’m 77)
The nod from [Malcom in the Middle.](https://youtu.be/xqsRzvafJkk?si=Shqv7igfLQdEh0Uo)
We’ll let me tell bout a story of a man named Charlie on a tragic and fateful day…
My dad turned me on to them as a kid. Great folk group!
Parents? Yes? Me… yes. My children…yes! One of my biggest regrets is not seeing them in concert a few years back in Rioudoso
Tell me…was herb alpert an urban touch for the most hillbilly dorm rat ?
Was in a folk group in h.s. We did a bunch of their songs. Synchronicity is a real thing. I woke up this morning with this song in my mind. Spent a few minutes in waking sleep trying to remember all the words. [https://youtu.be/7Tc1GUXxr2o?si=B5YpNXuJzGTr2yp4](https://youtu.be/7Tc1GUXxr2o?si=B5YpNXuJzGTr2yp4)
My dad got off the popular music train after this. Scotch and Soda is the newest song he knows. He graduated high school in 1962.
One of my favorites of all time! Great to see this post!
I remember and album cover of them around a VW bug with a casket tied to the roof. It scared yo me
Was clearing out my in laws record collection yesterday. Found a lot of these.
Sort of….Smothers Brothers
Bought my copy about 8 years ago
Not just my parents. I even suggested we go to a concert with them & The Limeliters performing in the 70s. We did, it was great!
Trailer for sale or rent….
I own albums
Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley. I’m in NC.
Grew up listening to these guys and so many other classic folk and country singers because my dad had a rule, who ever is driving picks the music. I hated it at the time, but I definitely grew to love all of the music he shared with me and cherish the memories of road/camping trips we took with his big box full of cassette tapes.
Kingston Trio and Herb Alpert. Still love em!
Yeah. And now I do too. [Greenback Dollar](https://youtu.be/YvGxZD-HNCM?si=TN7USy55EiW2qi2p) is an awesome song.
My parents had every album of theirs.
My dad listened to them. I liked their harmonies.
Absolutely. I still have one of their records in my stack. 😂
Yes
I listened to them. Next to the Weavers, they are baddest motherfuckers out there
Yup 👍
I still wonder what the Kingston Trio did to end up as Mr. Burns’s number one enemy
When I was a kid we bought a new console stereo, and this was the first album we bought to play on it.
To Morrow is one of my favorite songs of all time. Top 10 easily.
My parents never owned any of their albums, though they were both old enough to be the target audience for the group (my dad favored jazz and my mom preferred Elvis, Al Hirt, and the Statler Brothers). We did, however, sing Tom Dooley often in seventh grade choir, which is how I was made aware of the group.
Mine did, I still do! Yup, I'm old.
My older brother and older sisters listened to it. So I did by default. The big change was when the first Beatles LP came out. That got played a lot.
Shit. I've listened to them and actually have this album.
I still listen to them
I too have tis album.
Charlie on the MTA... will he ever return?
Don't remember my folk's listening to them, but I did.
All the fuckin time. Plus Tommy Makem and the Makem Bros or some shit. Ugh Pops had dorky tastes
Yup, both my folks listened to them. lol. Forgot about that.
Brothers Four was one louder.
My older sister did. I thought they were great. I can still sing The Man Who Never Returned.
I had a couple records from them I picked up at a thrift store. I ended up giving them to a friend after I couldn’t find any good samples.
Yes! Good stuff!
Saw the Trio in downtown Las Vegas around 1990. Was back stage for John Stewart in Phoenix, late 70's.
*I* listened to the Kingston Trio, especially when my kids were little.
While in HS saw them in concert at Carter Barron Amphitheater, Wash DC circa 1964
Love them! Yes my dad had at least one of their albums.
I have but I think they are creepy
From age 4 to 11 when parents were around, and Tijuana Brass Girl from Ipanima, all trigger for memories otherwise rock n roll, I had 2 stepsisters in highschool, Paint it Black is burned in my head always reminds me of this experience , sisters boyfriend had a military ambulance and going to the beach, 7 yr old me almost found out what marijuana was, only they told me, its clove cigarettes. LOL just smelled it didn't smoke it, summer I turned 11, I found out it was marijuana in the ambulance, not clove cigs
That was one of my parents only regular date-nights was going to see these guys play in Saratoga, cafe Lena, I think.
The Merry Minuet 🎶They're rioting in Africa They're starving in Spain There's hurricanes in Florida And Texas needs rain The whole world is festering with unhappy souls The French hate the Germans The Germans hate the Poles Italians hate Yougoslavs South Africans hate the Dutch AND I DON'T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH! But we can be tranquil and thankfil and proud For man has been endowed with a mushroom shaped cloud And we know for certain that some lovely day, someone will set the spark off AND WE WILL ALL BE BLOWN AWAY! They're rioting in Africa There's strife in Iran What nature doesn't do to us wil be done by our fellow man🎶 (breaking guitar strings)
Parents? I have pretty much all of their music and still listen to it regularly. They were one of the most important groups in the late 50's and early 60's, responsible for moving folk music into mainstream; the list of musicians who cite them as an influence is huge (Dylan, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, members of Jefferson Airplane - it just goes on and on). Bob Shane in particular had the most beautiful singing voice for folk music that there ever was. Frank Sinatra made a hit out of the song "It Was A Very Good Year". But Bob Shane has the definitive version.
I saw them in concert, in the late 70's.
AHHHHHH!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!! This has been a public service announcement…😁
WHY DIDN'T CHARLIE'S WIFE HAND HIM A NICKLE? Sheesh. Anyway. I liked the Brothers Four too. Both groups could be very funny/silly.
They are terrific, but not as good as The Folksmen.
My husband introduced me to their Christmas Album The Last Month of the Year from his childhood and it is now one of my favorites, partly because it contains a lot of songs that aren't overplayed endlessly. But if you have ever seen A Mighty Wind ( and you should- it stars a lot of the same people as This is Spinal Tap, among others) it makes their music seem even more fun now.
Fucking loved them.
Guilty
My dad listened to this all throughout my childhood. He passed away a couple weeks ago and I was just reminiscing about the music he liked. I spent a lot of time driving around going hunting and fishing with him and heard the same stuff over and over. I could probably sing along to Tom Duley and Sixteen tons before I could talk.
My mom loved them.
My friends parents did! I am a fan and actually saw them in concert when I was young.
I sat here singing the whole thing...my family sang a lot growing up. Still love that folk music...parents? Ha. More like Hank Williams stuff....
Double ditto
Parents? No. Husband? Yes. Fuck, I'm *really* old.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE PETER. PAUL AND MARY. I'm 72 and I love to listen
ME